Mills comments on Adele profits

Beggars Group boss Martin Mills has commented on the previously reported annual accounts of XL Recordings, submitted to Companies House recently, which showed that the success of Adele’s ’21’ led to a tenfold increase in profits at the indie label in 2011, to £41.7 million.

As previously reported, XL co-founder and chief Richard Russell received a £8.5 million dividend payment from the label, while Mills too, as the other shareholder, will have received a similar pay out, though his stake is via the Beggars Group, and he said earlier this week that the profits passed over to the Beggars business would be used “to invest in our future”.

On the Adele success, Mills told the New York Times: “We’ve sold 25 million copies of ’21’ around the world. And when you sell that many records everyone makes money. Not just Adele and the label, but distributors, retail, everyone”.

According to the Times, the Beggars Group, which has a stake in various labels, most notably XL and 4AD, but also Matador, Rough Trade and others, reported $138 million (£85.5 million) in revenue for 2011 and $37 million (£23 million) in operating profit.